Dweller
by WhatToChoose
Summary: This is just a little something I came up with on my own about 6 months ago. I have a full idea of a novel but I felt like I should post the first chapter and maybe get a review or two. Any feedback/extra ideas are welcome and appreciated. *I just kind of chose sci-fi since it's different from our world and adventure would come later in the full novel if it were to happen.*


Dweller

I awoke bound in chains. The air was hot and thin. My mouth was dry like a desert built up inside while I was unconscious or whatever. I went to lick my lips… I tried to lick my lips… "Wha-" My words slurred in my mouth. Was that how I talked? I couldn't put one word together. "Howp!" _No dammit, help!_ _HELP!_ I stuck a finger in my mouth to see what the deal was. My mouth felt empty and charred. I felt something rubbery at the back, but whatever used to be there was gone and I sensed like it was important.

I was wearing worn out ragged clothing like a caveman. My hands were covered in earth, gritty and uncomfortable. I scanned around the chamber I was in and saw a door to my right and an unglassed window in front of me. I heard screams of people and roars of animals. I heard the sound of gunfire, the clash of swords, and the thumps of hooves and feet and paws. I pushed myself off of the ground and walked towards the window. It was at eye level so I didn't have to bend down or stand on my tip toes. I saw the whole stadium packed with people cheering and yelling at those fighting on the ground. There were three fenced off areas taking up a third of the field each. On the left there were people fighting people while in the center was a cage full of animals which opened into the right side of the field where the animals then fought people.

I slowly backed up against the cold hard wall and slid down to the floor. _Where the hell am I?_ _Wait… Who the hell am I?_ I thought. I was panicking beyond control. The door to my right opened up to a man… Man? More like boy. He looked around 19 years old maybe twenty. He had blond hair and glistening blue eyes. His skin was tan from what I could tell since the only visible parts of his body was his hands and face, which had a gash tracing from the outer edge of his left eyebrow down to the middle of his upper lips. He was wearing a button down, long sleeve, cotton sewn shirt that was red on the left half and black on the right. His pants were a simple black type of army pants and boots to go along with it. He walked towards me and I tried to back up but the chain cuffs kept me from going very far. "Hey." He knelt down in front of me, "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you I promise. I just need to unlock your restraints. Will you let me do that?"

I nodded and held out my wrists.

He fondled the keys in his hand having to use a different one for each cuff. After he unlocked the last one I took the cuff and latched it onto his own wrist and backed up further from him all the way to the back wall. "Oh no," he said in a sarcastic voice, "how will I ever get you now?" He easily unlocked the cuff with the key.

 _Dammit! The key._

He offered me his hand which I gave an uncertain look, "Either you take it and walk out with me or I throw you over my shoulder and I carry you out."

 _You don't have to be such a dick about it._ I took his hand and he led me down to a room with metal doors all along a wall. In the center of the room was a chair with clothes just like his on it.

"Those are for you." He said. I walked over to them, picked them up and looked at him. "Well put them on."

I pointed to the ground.

"Yes right here. I'll turn around if you really need me to."

I nodded and he turned around.

Damn these leather pants were tight. Any size smaller and I would have lost circulation in the lower half of my body. The uniform shirt was rather very comfortable. I slid my feet into the boots and stared at the strings on them.

I cleared my throat to get the boys attention, which it did, "You finished?" He asked.

I looked down at the boots and then back up at him.

"What? I don't know what you want."

I sat down in the chair and cried.

"What is it? What's going on?" he put his hand on my back to comfort me, but I shook it off. "Whatever it is that's bothering you just tell me and-" I guess it finally snapped in his brain, "You can't talk. I'm sorry. I didn't realize… I didn't know." He sat down in front of me and tied the laces on the boots. After he was finished he offered me his hand again and I took it, "Do you know sign language?"

 _I don't know. If I did, I don't remember._ I simply shrugged and shook my head.

"I tell you what, you make it through the day and I'll teach you. Sound fair?"

 _No it most certainly does not sound fair!_ I just smiled and nodded.

"Oh here before I forget. It was all you had on your personal besides those rags and a box when you first arrived." He dug through one of the lockers, pulled out a silver circlet that looked like it fit around my neck. "It, um, it's chipped. Missing some pieces on the outside but I think it'll still go on. May I?" I nodded and turned around. My hair was short enough where I didn't really have to pull it back. It felt a little tight, but not too tight to where it was choking me. I felt a pinch on the back of my neck and cringed up for a second. The pain went away not a second later so I shrugged it off and turned around. "Now you look better." He said.

I rolled my eyes, _whatever._

"Don't give me that look. I'm serious about you looking good, you need to look and feel good so people won't mess with you around here."

I held up my arms in exaggeration to say _around where?_

"What? Around here?"

I nodded.

"Do you even know where you are?"

I shook my head.

"Come with me." He dragged me out of the locker room and pulled me outside of the building. The sun's rays hit me and I felt like my skin would melt off my bones. "You're in Lubbock, Texas. Home of the Red Raiders, birthplace of the United Republic of the Southern States. URSS for short. Right here within this town is where the Pact of the Southerners was signed. The Southern states stretch from California all the way to Carolina, Delaware, and Maryland. In case you need a quick history lesson since you don't remember anything, Carolina used to be in two parts, a north and a south. To reduce taxes North and South Carolina merged as did North and South Dakota and as did Virginia and West Virginia. That was when the government, originally called the United States of America, declared that any states wishing to merge would have to take it through the House of Representatives which always declined the states their rights, greedy bastards. So the people of the southern states wanted to make their own rules and live how they wanted to live. Texas was the first to go so here in Lubbock we formed the first Southern Army. The draft was reinstated, but this time applying to women also. We were succeeded by Carolina, Georgia, and eventually California. The states were split 23 to the south and 24 to the north."

 _Seems reasonable._

"So, um, do you remember anything? A name, a family, your age?"

I shook my head. _I wish I did._

"Hannah?"

I shook my head again. _Doesn't quite sound right._

"Amanda? Courtney? Shakira? Penelope? Natasha? Sandra? Any of those ring a bell?"

Again I shook my head.

He stroked his chin, "I think there might be a baby name book in the library. I can bring it to your dorm later tonight if you want, but now I need to get you to your training company before the CO shoves his boot up my ass." He covered his mouth. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to say that. I just don't like cursing in front of a woman."

 _Seriously? I don't remember anything and I have bigger balls than you._

Some joggers came trotting by, 2 women and one man. "Woah, woah, woah, what have we here?" The man chided, "Where'd you find this fine piece of work, Elliott? You didn't kidnap her from the bar did you?"

"Piss off, Grant." Elliott said.

Grant was about six feet tall with brown eyes and a bald head with a tattoo of a star on the side. The runners all wore black sweatshirts and red sweatpants. Both the girls looked very similar to each other with the same brown hair and the same brown eyes. What's the word? Twins? Yea, that sounds about right.

I looked at Elliott and he looked back at me.

"Yes, my name is Elliott. Got a problem with that, Ms. Throatless?"

 _Rude._

"Throatless?" One of the girls asked. "You gonna let him talk to you like that?"

 _Not like I can say anything back._ I shrugged.

"What's her name?" Grant asked. "Or has it not comeback to her yet?"

"Not yet." Elliott confirmed.

"Give it a couple of weeks. No one can take your name from you forever, kid. Let me formerly introduce myself, I'm Grant Williams, commanding officer of Company 3. These are my sisters, Bianca and Blair. Feel free to introduce yourself to me when your name comes back to you." They waved goodbye and went back to running.

 _I'll need a tongue to come back to me also._

"About the whole weeks thing, don't worry about it right now."

I caught him looking at his wrist and saw a bright light reflect off of it, "Jesus, is that the time? Ok we need to go and find your company before I go to a meeting."

 _No, no don't go! You're the only one who knows about my problem!_ I vigorously shook my head until it felt like it would fall off.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go to this meeting. I pinky promise I'll come find you as soon as it's over." He held out his pinky and I crossed it with mine. "Ok then, lets go find your company."

We jogged over to a large building with the word "Agriculture" near the top, whatever that meant. Inside was one large room full of chairs with wooden slabs on the sides. All eyes were on me as Elliott sat me down in a chair at the farthest part away from the guys. But since the girls side was practically filled he just put me in the last row behind a blonde girl who gave a look of disgust.

The whole room was split on each side, one for the boys and one for the girls. I heard some whistles from the boys' side, perverts. Everyone was whispering to each other. On the girls side I heard remarks like, "Uh oh. Dead man walking." And on the boys' side I heard, "I wouldn't mind getting to know her for a night."

"Everyone shut your damn mouths." Bellowed the man at the front of the room. They all stopped and shrunk down in their seats. "Is this the one you found out near the airport, Elliott?"

Elliott cleared his throat, "Yes sir it is. She has been assigned to your company for now until we find out what kind of skills she possesses. Is that ok with you sir?"

"The more the merrier." He said in a sarcastic tone. "Thank you, son. You are dismissed."

"Wait right outside for me, I'll be back as soon as I can." He promised and exited the building.

The officer up front continued on with whatever he was doing as if nothing had happened. I didn't care to pay attention so I just twiddled my thumbs. One of the girls in front of me leaned back and smirked, "He's pretty depressing huh?"

I shrugged and shook my head no.

"No? Don't you know who he is?" she paused but quickly spoke, "How could you. You probably don't even know your own name, do you?"

Again I shook my head.

"Anyways, I'm Rhea." She sighed. "Would you want to join us girls for a little bit and watch some prisoners try and win their freedom in the Stadium Games? I know it doesn't sound right, but out here in the middle of nowhere, there isn't any other way to have fun."

 _Sounds barbaric._ For the third time I shook my head no.

Rhea frowned, "Don't have the stomach for it, huh? No matter. We'll being seeing a lot of each other for the next, well, forever." She sat back forward in her chair and started taking notes over what the CO was talking about.

I didn't really pay attention to the lecture or anything for that matter. I did see some of the guys looking at me, checking me out. _I'm not that attractive am I?_ I hoped not. I don't need any more attention on me right now. And I especially didn't need people trying to have conversations with me. Maybe I could run away from here. I mean who would chase after a lone girl who can't even communicate with other people?

The CO clapped his hands together which drew me out of my conversation with my conscience, "That wraps up todays lesson. Tomorrow we will be in the Trenches so bring your sparring gear."

I ran out of the building as quick as I could and ended up colliding with Elliott which landed him right on his ass. "I-" I stopped myself from speaking anymore.

"Was that your voice?"

 _No shit._ I nodded, but gave him a 'don't be stupid' look.

"It sounded beautifuuuuuul, NANCY!?"

I shook my head. _As long as I don't know, you won't know either._

He sighed, "Trust me when I say this, I am going to find out your name whether it kills me or not. But until then let's go get you set up in your dormitory, shall we?" he offered me his arm and I looped mine through it. While we walked he told me about this training camp and how back then 400 years ago it used to be a college called Texas Tech University. He said that the school offered a wide selections of degrees, which he explained to me as a way of getting a career in a certain field you wanted to. He walked past a building which had the words Student Union where people would relieve stress and play billiards or ping pong. It still held the same function though now. We passed by the Recreational Center which is where everyone works out. Elliott said that there was no need for it anymore since we work out every day outside, so now everyone just uses the pool to cool down in the summer. Lastly we walked past the stadium where I had seen all the people fight, "This is the Stadium. It used to be where people played a sport called football. It's an aggressive sport where one man had an oval ball and threw it or handed it off to another and they tried to score at one of the ends. The defense was another team which kept them from scoring. Now it's used for Prisoner Games." His tone changed from informative to angry. "You probably got the gist of it when you were locked up, right?"

I nodded and tried to meet his eyes, but he looked away. A feeling in my gut told me he was hiding something, but when I looked in his eyes I could tell it was going to be hard for him to talk about. We finally came up to a large building with many windows. On the top of the building letters read "Murdough." I pointed at the structure.

"Yea, this is where you'll be staying at whenever you are out of classes, training, or curfew. A few rules though, nothing crazy; number one you are not allowed on the roof or in the basement. Number two you are not allowed to have any alcohol, drugs, or tobacco within the halls, only outside. And number three you are not allowed to have any of the opposite sex in your room while you are alone unless they are bringing in a newcomer. Nothing too big really. Everyone grew up learning those rules so shouldn't be a problem. Any questions from the group?"

I rolled my eyes, _no._

"Wow, I'm trying here. Meet me halfway with a snort or something. Let me know you aren't dead behind me." We bounded up three flights of stairs passing others as they went down. He would smile and say hi to them. Some would ask if I was a newbie. Others didn't say anything, especially the guys.

"H-h-hey." I managed. It came out gargled and disoriented and somewhat deep.

"Hey? What? You want to ask me something?"

I nodded.

"I'll get you a notepad and a pen to write it down… Wait, do you know how to write?"

I shrugged. _This blows. I can't speak, I probably can't write, and I probably am going to get my ass kicked tomorrow at the Trenches or whatever he called it._ He fumbled with a key ring that had probably 90 keys on it. After he unlocked it he took the key off as well and handed it to me, "Don't lose it." The door opened and I swear 100 years of dust flew out making us both cough, "Damn, the dust bunnies multiplied exponentially. Whatever, I guess we'll just have to clean it ourselves. So acquaint yourself with the room and I'll be back with cleaning supplies."

He walked out jingling the keys again. I looked around the tiny room, but there was nothing really to see. A desk, a bed against the wall, and a box in the middle of the floor which strangely didn't have dust all over it like the rest of the room did. I ripped the tape off without thinking and opened the box in a matter of seconds. There were pictures of me and a man and woman standing on either sides of me, and clothes and a pair of shoes. I dug all of these things out. They seemed familiar to me though, like they were mine. As I picked the shoes up a shiny metal cube dropped out from in-between them. I reached down to pick it up, but when I got close to it the object lit up dim red lights on the edges. I retreated my hand and the lights went out. I repeated this process getting my hand ever so closer to see its glow get brighter and even emit heat. I was just about to grab it when Elliott came back with a box full of cleaning supplies and a floor suction machine. "Hey! Don't touch that!" He dropped his box and swatted my hand away. "I'm sorry, it's just… Now is not the best time to open this." He said picking up the box of familiar things.

I made rectangles with my index fingers and thumbs.

"Pictures? Of you?"

I nodded and handed one to him. His hand trembled at the sight of the picture. "Do you know who these are?" He asked.

I shook my head.

The trembling didn't stop, but he cleared his throat and said, "These are most likely your parents or maybe just your guardians. Pictures are used to store memories we don't want to ever lose. The tree in the background is called a Christmas tree. People used them to decorate their houses at the holidays and place wrapped gifts under them for the family to open. You'll see in about a month and a half. People go crazy about it. Like there is nothing in this world that could go wrong." He set the picture up on the dusty table. "Now how about we get cleaning?"


End file.
